Australia’s most popular arts event is back in action for 2025. They call it “the face that stops the nation”, and the Archibald Prize for portraiture has indeed been courting controversy and conversation for more than a century now. Meanwhile, the Wynne Prize awards the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or figurative sculpture, and the Sulman is awarded to the best genre painting, subject painting or mural project.
Rain or shine, Sydney’s best art galleries and top museums contain treasure troves of inspiration just waiting to be discovered.
The Art Gallery of NSW is ready to unleash a fresh suite of famous faces, diverse landscapes and eclectic sculptures with the return of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes. There's also plenty more strange and wonderful things to discover across both gallery buildings – and you only have a limited time left to head down into The Tank and allow the rich visual and sonic experience of Angelica Mesiti: The Rites of When to wash over you (closes May 11).
If you like your exhibitions extra outrageous, then you absolutely do not want to miss XSWL at White Rabbit Gallery (closes May 18). Taking its name from the Chinese internet slang term for “laughing to death”, this exhibition features four floors of wild contemporary art where silly, harmless fun and jokes are deployed to bypass taboos and tackle politically sensitive topics.
Qtopia Sydney will also soon say goodbye to the colourful suite of exhibitions that opened during Sydney Mardi Gras, including an exploration of a certain Aussie pop star’s deep bond with her LGBTQ+ fanbase in Kylie Minogue & Queer Devotion, as well as a fabulous showcase of painstakingly crafted costumes from past Sydney Mardi Gras Parades in BE:DAZZLED Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Costume Extravaganza.
Are you prepared to head outside of the city for an experience where art and nature come together? Down by the bend of the Shoalhaven River, Bundanon's intriguing new exhibition features talking mushrooms and dancing horses; and in the Southern Highlands, Ngununggula has just unveiled a gorgeous showcase of all-women painters.
Read on for more of the coolest exhibitions to have a gander at.
